Letter to the Editor: An appeal to off-leash dog owners

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About a year ago, I adopted a husky-shepherd mix from the Truckee Humane Society. She's a great companion, but her biggest fault is that she's dog-aggressive.

Trying to be a responsible dog owner, I leash her whenever we go for walks in order to avoid confrontations. The other night, two off-leash dogs charged us and attacked. Not wanting to see my dog ripped apart, I did everything in my power to wrench the two dogs off of her.

The owner, who did nothing to call them off or intervene, stormed up to me and threatened severe bodily harm for touching his dogs. The threat left me shaken, disturbed and scared.

It's time to start a reasonable discussion about dog ownership in our town. Part of what makes Truckee great is its love of canine companions, but the level of disrespect I've seen for people with leashed dogs is disheartening. I have encountered dog owners who immediately recall their dogs when they see me with a leashed dog, but they are the exception to the rule.

Most people let their dogs run right up to mine, then get angry when my dog lunges at them. So this is my plea to those of you lucky enough to have dogs that can be allowed off-leash - please, understand that those of us with leashed dogs have them restrained for very important reasons, and we need your help to maintain the peace between our dogs and yours.

Let's keep Truckee the dog-friendly town that we all love, and strive to respect each other's needs.